Sonic Heroes 2: Metal Clash
by TrailerFlip
Summary: Almost a year after after Metal Sonic's defeat, the gang thinks its time for a Christmas reunion. The timing couldn't be worse. Now Sonic and his friends need to get ready, because the roboclone's bringing friends.
1. Intro Prologue Thing

Introduction

The following story contains what should have been the first plot that came to mind after Sonic CD, in terms of "how to beat that darn sonic and his friends." You might not agree though, and it's cool. Anyway, enjoy this "sequel" to Sonic Heroes. By the way, the pairings are SonicxAmy, KnuxxRouge, TailsxCream, all the typical stuff. Anyway I'm a more traditional plot writer but I'll throw in a few made up stuff but I'm tryin to make it sound like a plot you'd get from one of the games.

Now for the setting: Earth, as usual, 11 months after the destructive plot of the advanced Metal Sonic. Eggman has got some plans ready, but unfortunately, there might not be an earth to conquer soon, unknown to him. Christmas is on its way, and a familiar foe might ruin the holiday season. Sonic, now 17, is still running from Amy, 14, while Tails, 10, works hard on a building the upgrading the tornado again. Knuckles, 18, is just enjoying the peace of life, often stopping by to visit Sonic and Tails. Rouge, 18, lives her life as usual, seeking any gems she sees, while Shadow+2, wanders to wherever, still seeking answers to his life. Big , 24 has moved to Alaska for the fishing with Froggy. Cream, 8, is Amy's naïve, innocent, aerodynamically-eared roommate.

And so the adventure begins……


	2. Old Hog, New Trick

December 12, wreckage of the Egg Whale Shark…..

The sound of computers long untouched yet operational echoed throughout the room and hallways. Since the fall of the great vessel, this had been the only sound continuously replaying itself. A new sound, however began to make itself known.

_Ka-chank, Ka-chank, Ka-chank _

The sound stopped in front of a sealed door. To the left of the door was placed a small device that looked like a calculator. A cold, metallic hand moved towards it and typed a combination into it. The red light gleaming from the tiny machine became a bright green with a small chime. The dark lab's weak illumination from the computers was suddenly added to as light flooded the room it had not seen for all those months.

A large figure stood in the doorway, shadowed by the light from behind him. An arm stretched out from the being and flipped a light switch next to the door, revealing himself. It was E-102 Omega, the rogue creation of Dr. Eggman and teammate of Rouge the Bat and Shadow the Hedgehog. The behemoth began slowly walking inside. He scanned the room with his with his large red eyes, top to bottom, left to right.

"Area secure. Sufficient lockdown for object." the big bot said in his lifeless robotic voice. The "object" he _( well he's got a male voice, and I dun wanna say "it"_) was referring to sat unmoving and limp in his hand. It was the once terrible, evil and threatening Metal Sonic, now beaten and broken and almost obsolete. Omega lifted his captive behind his head, then proceeded to throw him towards the other side of the room with great force. The pitiful titanium clone tried in vain to get up with a grunt of pain, but simply fell.

The pitiful cold creature began to wonder the same thoughts he had since his defeat.

"Ergh…ungh…" he groaned, "where-..where did I go wrong? Th-the plan...it was flawless. Eungh! How did cough Sonic defeat me cough again? How? HOW!" Metal Sonic wondered aloud.

He remained on the ground, contemplating how after all of his planning, Sonic once again thwarted his attempts at the world's destruction.

"Captive still functioning. Potential threat: 50, possibly more if left in current condition. Full annihilation imminent in five…"

A small memory emerged from the back of Metal Sonic's mechanical mind.

"_Because, we're Sonic Heroes."_

"four…"

"…_Heroes."_

"three…"

"…_Heroes."_

"two…"

With his death only nanoseconds away, Metal Sonic had realized what he would have to do. "Activate …black shield."

"ONE!"

With that a barrage of shells came blasting out of Omega's machine gun hand. Metal Sonic managed to lift his hand just in time to activate his protective dark barrier. Omega stopped firing.

"WARNING! Resistance in effect. Initiating heavy artillery!" Omega's hand began to fire a missile. Simultaneously Metal Sonic began to charge electricity in his hand. At the same moment they released their weapon in the direction of the other.

'BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM'

The explosion launched Omega far enough for him to land a good mile away from the massive carrier. He was in bad condition. He was severely damaged, cracked open in several section of his armor, not to mention the arm he used to launch his missile had been blown off.

"Must warn of threat. Captive free. Possibility of danger. Need to locate Rouge." The Herculean robot picked himself up and held his armless shoulder. He began limping his way towards Station Square.

Back in the ship

The lab was completely destroyed. Computer flickered and sparked, small fires burned and piles of rubble lay everywhere. Suddenly one began to movie. A robot's hand burst forth from a pile, dented and covered with scorch marks. The rest of Metal Sonic's body shot from the hole, in the same condition as his hand. He began walking towards the remaining working computers, holding the large gash on the side of his chest.

"Ok, my despicable organic clone, kidnapping your pretty, pink, little girlfriend didn't work, and neither did mechanically evolving myself into a monster. However, I won't need the evolution once I'm through, and you can keep your pretty little friend. Consider it my thanks, for showing me what I need to do to defeat you."

The evil droid began uploading all of his saved research into one of the computers. He brought up all loaded profiles onto the screen.

"If he needs friends to be triumphant, then they should have the honor of being copied as well. Hahahahaha."

Using the same powers that he used to transform himself into Metal Madness, he began to alter the mechanics of the lab into a construction site. Pieces of metal merged into tools and tables of many sorts. He placed six empty shadow clone capsules side by side and threw hundreds of salvaged metal pieces onto six tables he formed. Mentally controlling the tools, they began to work on the metal pieces. Metal Sonic found some metal paint and set it aside for its later purpose.

"Beware Sonic. Your days are finally numbered. You and your friends' lives are coming to an END! MwuaHahahahahahahahahahahahahah!


	3. How about a Party?

_I can't remember which game introduces Station Square. sweatdrop I feel rather silly right now. Special thanks to authors kylewin and toni the mink for helping me format all this shizzle. _

_Now this is the section of the story where you'd expect a theme song with a video, beginning-of-movie credits, and a the title appears in a big display with a cool font, but…this is not a motion picture. Ahem, now then, on with the show…._

Station Square, December 14, Sonic and Tails' apartment (as of the last 3 months out of the public's gratitude for saving them) , 11:33 P.M.

A shining sun. A few clouds. Some chirping seagulls. A beautiful view of a sunny beach, covered with young women in bikinis which is always nice. Station Square was definitely a kickass place to live. A certain young twin tailed fox took in the scenery from the inside of garage with the door open. He looked at the beach and sighed in relaxation. His eyes wandered to see the other parts of town. Next to it, a large industrial but still clean city. Next to that, two giant staring emerald green eyes?

"BOO!"

Tails made it clear instantly that he was shocked "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHhhh! Huff, huff. That's not very funny Sonic!"

The hedgehog chuckled. "Heheheh. Sorry little buddy. I saw you daydreaming and I couldn't resist, 'snicker'. So how's the _big project_ comin' along? You close to done yet?"

The twin tailed youth was still recovering his breath. "Huff, huff. Yes I am. I just need to finish the weapons and the propulsion system and we're good to go. And I tell ya, I can't wait to coast those beautiful skies in our new Tornado 3." Tails looked up at the big blue sky above him, perfectly clear with only a few clouds for a perfect decoration. He let out a deep sigh. "Sure is a nice day. Strange that the snow'll be here soon." The vulpine youth was silent for a moment then asked his longtime friend "Hey sonic?

Sonic turned to his friend.

"Yeah tails?" he responded coolly.

The fox looked at him with one of those smiles that meant "please" when used to ask a question."Is it okay with you if we have a little reunion party here? I kinda miss everyone, and it'll be nice and snowy for some winter time fun probably within a few days. We could let them stay over for Christmas. And don't worry about gifts. We've got plenty of funds left. I'll just leave the Tornado 3 alone for a little while. Whaddya say?" Tails made sure to make everything sound beneficial.

Sonic's smile faltered as heard Tails' question.

"Tails…" Sonic began with a stern look. Tails immediately looked down sadly, strongly disappointed and expecting the answer. "That's a great idea little bro", Sonic said calmly, flashing a grin. "You can invite whoever you want."

Tails nearly jumped out of his fur and embraced Sonic at a speed even the blue blur hadn't seen coming. Sonic looked surprised, and a little deprived of oxygen from Tails' iron grip, then smiled. Being so close to Christmas, and having grown up alongside the little guy, Sonic's heart always became warmed whenever he saw his little "brother" so happy. He patted Tails on the back.

Sonic's calm answer was met with a very strong and loud response "THANK YOU SONIC. YOU WON'T REGRET IT!"

"Hey no prob, Tails. Anything for my best bud. Besides I've also missed everybody a little bit myself," Sonic admitted.

That could've honestly qualified as Sonic's biggest understatement in history. The truth was he missed them extremely. Knuckle's gullibility and loyalty, Shadow's nobility and being almost as cool as himself, Cream's cute youthful innocent adorability, Rouge's charm, mysterious quality, not to mention her cleavage. The Chaotix bunch. And though he would never admit to _her_ or anyone else, Sonic couldn't deny it: He missed Amy.

The sonic-chasing, hammer wielding, headband wearing pink hedgehog who would chase Sonic to the ends of the earth. Oh sure, he ran like hell as soon as he noticed her presence. However, Sonic didn't dislike her. On the contrary, over the years, she had grown on him. Sonic really admired her determination, her kindness and concern which largely surpassed any other fan girl, and it was hard to argue that she was among the cuter girls he'd seen. She may not have been a fully blossomed knockout like Rouge, but Sonic wasn't into her. Besides, Amy would really be something at that age. He could tell.

The young fox shook him from his thoughts.

"Well what are we waitin for? I'll invite Knuckles of course, and Shadow (if I can locate him). I think there's a new diamond exhibit at the museum a few blocks down so Rouge should probably wanna steal it soon. I wonder if Cream will wanna come." Tails blushed and lost his train of thought for a few seconds before snapping back to his senses. "The Chaotix guys are closed for the holidays, and Charmy was a lot of fun. Oh and I can't forget about _her_. Hehehe." The mischievous fox turned toward his friend with a sly,goofy grin.

Sonic's brow furrowed. He knew who the fox meant. Tails knew this would be Sonic's response. This was his favorite way of teasing the hedgehog.

He began to annoy him in the most classic and traditional way: "Sonic and Amy, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G…"

Sonic let out a small growl. "I'm warning you, Tails."

He completely disregarded the threats. "How cute. Widdle Sonic don't wanna talk about it. That means he wuvs her." Tails started laughing at his own remarks.

Sonic let out a 'humph' but then smiled a little. "Ok. Haha. Very cute, MILES."

With that, the hedgehog pounced and tackled his little buddy. They started play wrestling around until Sonic got him in a full nelson.

Tails slapped the ground. "Haha. Ok, ok sonic. You win, you win. Huff, huff, huff. I'll stop."

Sonic let him go and chuckled. "Hehehe. Whew. Ok, you're free." He got up and started to catch his breath. After a minute or so he turned around to the still tired fox.

"Ya know, you can go ahead and invite her", he said trying to seem as inconspicuous and cool as possible. Unfortunately his relaxed expression couldn't hide the blood that had evidently rushed to his cheeks.

Tails looked very surprised: wide eyes, open mouth, the works. "For real? Wow. I didn't know you actually did love her back, Sonic."

Beneath his blue fur Sonic blushed even more, his face looked dumbfounded, and his response came immediately and clumsily.

"WHAT? I don't… I mean…Love! Er..what I'm saying is…gah! I don't love her….b-but I don't not like her. I love her-LIKE her. I meant LIKE her. But not like THAT! I mean…uh..I'm…gonna go for a run. Go ahead and send the invitations. I'll be back for dinner. Bye now."

Sonic regained his trademark cocky grin. He turned and burst into a blue streak that began to cover a lot of distance within nanoseconds. The sly speed demon purposefully ran by a few beach-going women in bikinis wearing towels. The gust that followed the blue pervert blew away the towels leaving the women looking pretty embarassed. He looked back and gave a wolf whistle. He looked forward again with the same cocky grin and sped up even further.

Tails watched the display and couldn't help but chuckle at what he saw. _"Typical_" he thought to himself. He watched Sonic until he was out of sight, then turned around and went back inside of his garage. He closed the door and entered the house through a door in the garage. He walked over to the living room. It was nice. Big glass coffee table surrounded on three sides by a big U-shaped couch, Sony big screen with a clear shelf for the boys' Gamecube (mostly for their own gaming franchise) and DVD player, complete visibility of kitchen (the kind with a counter and stools set up like a bar with no real door dividing the two rooms like the ones at hotels), 2 bean bag chairs in the middle of the floor, soft cream carpet, a few side tables with framed pictures of the duo and their friends, and one wall was a complete set of windows that slid open and let to a big beautiful deck where you walk down some stair and onto a path to a fence that would open to the big beach behind the house. Tails walked over to a cordless phone sitting on the table and picked it up. He dialed 7 buttons and placed the phone to his ear and waited.

"Hello?" a voice answered

Tails smiled gladly "Knuckles! How's it goin?"

Knuckles sounded curiously surprised. His first thought that something might be up. "Tails? This is a curious surprise. Is somethin up?"

Tails grinned with a giggle. "No, no everything's fine. By the way do you have any plans for Christmas Eve?..."


	4. Dark Encounter, Good Encounter

Some habits die hard, and in this case, they're just plain immortal. One might think after so big a number of defeats, any person would have decided to give up. Yet, just like his speedy rival, Dr. Eggman just never seems to stop. The breakfast resembling mega mechanic sighed in frustration with his blueprints that covered his work table. He grabbed the top most idea, crumpled it and proceeded to throw it into a growing pile of rejected ideas.

"All my ideas, always they are overcome by that little blue demon. I and my I.Q. of 300, always outwitted and outdone by a simple hedgehog with a boost of mobility. Metal Sonic had come closer than I ever had, and he would've been successful had it not been for the advantages of teamwork and the chaos emeralds. But why do my clever plans and destructive weapons never succeed? Why? WHY!"

Eggman pounded his table with his fists and let out an angry growl. He had always been angry after being defeated, but this time he was really and truly frustrated. After a few minutes of venting out his anger, his face fell and was filled with depression. A thought he had often pushed back to his mind slowly approached. He couldn't deny after, not only losing to but in recent occasions teaming up with Sonic's friends, the time may have come for his "retirement" from his villainous career.

The scientist looked up and spoke to himself. "Perhaps, maybe it is time for me to give it up, maybe I just wasn't meant to succeed. At the rate I'm going, who knows how long it could be before Sonic is the frustrated one and chooses to end my career in a permanent and more rash fashion."

He fumbled through a drawer and found some old newspaper articles he saved. They were about the many plans he had unveiled and how Sonic and his allies had found some way to defeat him. He looked at a photo of Sonic and Knuckles in station square, and another of the alternative dimensional royalty, Blaze, shaking hands with the hedgehog in gratitude for their aiding each other. The picture below it showed Amy ramming her foot into Sonic's groin while Blaze looked confused. Eggman looked up for a second. "..Now why didn't I build a robot like that?...Oh well."

He put the pictures back in the drawer and looked around his laboratory. If he were to move on, he'd have to clean up first. Dr. Eggman walked (it was more like a waddle) over to a door and pressed his finger to a button. The doors opened to reveal an elevator, which the doctor entered and traveled up several floors. A door on the opposite side opened upon reaching the destination and Eggman was nearly blinded by the light that shoved itself into the car. Eggman stepped out and saw a large view of the ocean. His base of operations was a giant boat/ submarine structure in the middle of the ocean. He walked over to a life boat that looked built for infantry and lowered himself into the ocean. The ship set traveled nearly two miles from the base before coming to a stop. Eggman rummaged around a floor compartment in his boat and pulled out a fold out computer and a three foot rocket launcher.

The genius turned the computer on and typed in a few commands. A screen appeared flashing _'Windows Egg'_ and _'Enter Password'_. He typed in a sequence of no meaning and spoke to the screen.

"Computer, initiate fuel core checkup. Deactivate all precaution shields and open all effective systems in the facility 'Egg Whale'. Download all means of data to current active unit", Eggman commanded.

The top portion of the ship opened in one small section near the exhaust to reveal a large energy processor that fueled the ship. A wave of invisible energy around the vessel revealed itself and disintegrated. At the same time all of Eggman's records and data on his computer network downloaded onto two discs in his fold out. He grabbed the rocket launcher and aimed it at the fuel source. Before pulling the trigger, he had a bit more to say.

"These years provided a thrilling chase," he paused, and a tear rolled down from his goggle covered eye, " …but….there has never been a thrill to look forward to at the end. Sonic, you're not here to hear this, but know that you won't need to worry about me anymore. Sayonara."

Eggman wiped the tear from his eye. It was the only sentimental action he had committed in many years, but this would likely make it the last. He pulled the trigger and watched the rocket fly from his gun. It cut through the air as it made its way to its target, like a star cutting across the night sky. Eggman sadly waited for it to reach its destination, waited for the great explosion of his base. It never happened.

Only seconds before the impact, another rocket came and collided with Eggman's. The explosion sent out large waves and tossed the doctor's ship back a few meters. He laid on the floor shocked, trying to envision what had just happened. Whose rocket was that and why would it be sent to stop his own. Regardless, the doc got up and looked around. The base was where it had been, only scorched by the shrapnel from the collision. Things began to seem not only suspicious but a little creepy. The little boat made its way back to the ship.

Eggman climbed a ladder to the top and checked the surroundings. All he could find was a nearby island with a very faint smoke trail coming from it. He pulled out a pair of binoculars and scanned the spot. There was no one there, no one hiding or coming towards him.

"Who..or perhaps, what…could have done that? I didn't establish any artillery over there! What's going on?" he asked to no one in particular.

To his surprise, he received an answer.

"Come now, Dr. Eggman. I did you a favor."

The egg jumped at the response, and his blood ran cold. "I-impossible. Y-you should…you were…" He began to turn around to confirm his suspicions, and when he did his blood nearly froze.

"How have you been? I assume your objective has continued to show no results. Hmhmhm", chuckled a familiar, robotic voice.

Eggman stepped back and furrowed his brow. "You sell yourself highly, considering you were one of the first of those failures, METAL SONIC!"

The cyber-hog nearly continued to chuckle, then lashed out and grabbed Dr. Eggman by the collar. He then threw him several feet to his side. The robot started walking towards his creator. "What do you think of my new appearance, doctor? I did it myself." The hog stepped forward and pulled off the cloak he had been wearing. His spines had been built more to resemble Sonic's own hair. His limbs now featured a more curved and muscle pattern design. His body was a bit longer and more lean. His back spines were long and sharp and serrated. His "shoes" had lost their silly upward curve but still ended sharply, and featured a paint job more sleek and up to date. He now had a mobile mouth with two fangs and spikes jutting from his shoulders and the backs of his hands and the tops of his shoes.

"My best yet if do say so myself, especially since I've lately been able to make a few '_friends_'. Hehehehehe." The robot lifted his metal hand and snapped his fingers and created a large electric flash. Eggman shielded his eyes then heard several snickering voices. When the light had gone down, he looked up and was astonished.

All around the doctor stood five robots. They seemed familiar in a strange way, then the doctor began to recognize them. One stood with a red body and two large fists that each held two drills. It had long dreadlocks with sharp tips. Another had an angled heart on its chest with a white painted head and with thicker structures for the feet and lower legs. The heels on the shoes were sharp, and there were a bunch of little spikes on the toe areas. It had robotic eyelashes and two cyber wings. Next to this one stood a sand-colored bot with 3 curved spikes coming from the forehead and 2 on each sides of the cheeks. It had two tail protrusions that each ended in four-way claw openings. Behind Eggman was a robot that looked almost exactly like Metal Sonic, but with familiar black and red colors and head spines that curved upward. The shoes were divided in half at one point and were equipped with jets on the bottom. The last wore sort of a dress that showed the "navel" and had a pink body with spines that curves around the head. It had the same curved spikes as the sand-colored robot, a headband, eyelashes and a lip color like the white/purple robot, and a giant hammer with holes on each side.

Eggman immediately placed the obvious clues together. However, he was still baffled at how the rogue robot could have come across his new allies. Even more frightening was that a robot had surpassed the genius doctor's creative inventing.

"Dr. Eggman, meet my team. Metal Shadow, Metal Tails, Metal Rouge, Metal Knuckles and Metal Amy." The blue robot pointed to and introduced all of his cyber teammates.

Eggman stood up and eyed Metal Sonic. He then found his voice and spoke, "I can figure that out, fool. What I don't know is why you're even here. What does this whole invention streak of yours have to do with me?" The doctor began to worry about the answer.

The metallic Shadow responded. "You see, we don't actually need you, just some information,.." he paused and held up the two data discs. "..and a getaway vehicle," finished Metal Knuckles.

Eggman looked at the base, and realized why the counter missile was fired. He turned back to the robots. "So you plan on attempting the same thing. Good. You're haven't become as creative as I thought. But why try what has already failed? Sonic and his friends-" he was cut off by Metal Rouge. She continued, "Sonic and his friends won't pose a threat, now that the stakes are a bit more even." The robotic bat made a charming smile just like the real Rouge.

Eggman looked at Metal Sonic and asked, "What's your plan if you succeed in defeating your rivals? What next?" Metal Sonic smiled. It wasn't some fresh new plan, it was what he had always wanted. "Well Dr, I simply want those heroes out, so that we can establish ourselves as the ultimate threat on this planet. We'll want to continue evolving, and the world will suffer unless it yields to the requirements of our development. We want what any being would….PERFECTION!" He grabbed a disc from Metal Shadow and looked at it. Metal Amy walked towards Eggman and grabbed his collar. "The plan of course is more complicated, but we still know what we're doing. Thank you for the discs doctor. So kind of you to load them for us." She and Metal Rouge each kissed him on one cheek. Eggman snarled and pulled away. "I can't let you carry this out. I'm not fond of Sonic either, mind you. However, if anyone were to conquer this planet, it'd be ME!" the doctor declared firmly. He lunged forward and grabbed a disk from Metal Sonic. He fell over as Dr. Eggman ran towards the edge of the ship and dove for the ocean.

"I don't think so Doctor! Take this!" shouted Metal Sonic. He let out a blast of energy towards him. Eggman was fortunate enough to only have the edge of his mustache merely singed by the electric blast. As one might expect with his size, his dive ended up more like a cannonball.

Metal Tails jumped into the air and his tails began to twirl. "Don't worry, _big bro_, I'll catch him. He won't get very far after all." The robot fox snickered and started moving forward. He was stopped by Metal Sonic. "You're right. He won't get far. That's why we can leave him be. He unwittingly just finished his life, the old fool. Besides, we have the other disc. Let's proceed then, comrades. There's someone else's blood I'd rather taste." As the other robots began to set the ship towards the mainland, the evil clone's new mouth formed an evil grin. He began to chuckle, then began to roar with laughter. "HehehehehehahahaHaHaHaHAHAHAHAHA!"

ooo

A nice, lush forest. Nothing but green, green and more green. Some trees and bushes, rocks and boulders, soaked by the bright sunlight, serving as a spot of purity and a home to all sorts of wildlife. All this scenery seems a bit inappropriate for a badly damaged combat robot with a limp and only one arm. Omega continued on through a somewhat visible trail along a hill. Upon reaching the top, the beach and the city became visible.

"Station Square ahead. Rouge genetic signature present. Scanning. Familiar Signature picked up. Miles 'Tails' Prower. Mechanical repair possibility increased. Must warn Rouge. Must attain repairs."

The battle machine limped on towards the city in search of his two allies.

ooo

It had been nearly an hour, and the hedgehog was still sprinting around the city at incredible speed. He stopped on a side walk tree branch and laid back to catch his breath a little. He looked up at the sky and took a relaxing look at his surroundings. He started to enjoy the sound of the birds chirping and the leaves shaking from the gentle breeze. The hustle and bustle of the city, and the high feminine voice calling out his name?

"Sonic! Hey, Sonic!"

Sonic had a good mind to either run like hell or pretend to be dead. He knew that voice anywhere. In the short amount of time he spent thinking about his options, the pink lovesick hedgehog Amy made her way directly below her object of affection, dressed in a more festive dress with a Santa Hat.

"Hey there, my beloved Sonic!" she said cheerfully. "Whacha doin up there?"

Sonic looked annoyed with that expression that just says "there goes my day". "Amy what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with Cream shoppin or messin with makeup or whatever it is you girls do?"

Amy after these years had learned to recognize the sarcasm that often came from him. "Well jeez. Sounds like someone's in a good mood", she giggled. "Relax, speedy. I was just buyin some groceries for our apartment along with some gifts and supplies for Christmas and I wanted to say 'Hi' real quickly." She held up the Safeway bags of food and the bag of gifts so Sonic could see them and grinned.

Sonic looked a little relieved and surprised. "Oh. Um..then..i guess..happy holidays, Amy." He leaned back into the tree and figured she'd left. The poor speed demon was dead wrong. He immediately felt a hand grab his ankle and yank him down to the sidewalk. Amy right away pushed him on to a bench and sat on his lap.

She giggled and looked at him with a more calm look and stroked his chin. "I figured you'd fall for that. Hehe."

Sonic just looked at her wide-eyed. A large sweat drop appeared on the side of his head. "Uh..Amy, what are you doing?" he asked worriedly.

She just smiled and answered. "I don't mean to sound greedy, I just thought I'd sit on your lap and ask for my present a little early." She put her arms around his neck and purred. "I'm still me, I've just grown up a little, Sonic Hedgehog." She grabbed a mistletoe from her pocket and held it over the two. Sonic's expression remained and he looked at the mistletoe, then to Amy's face.

"Gee..uh..Amy? This is..a lot more..er.._mature_ of you. Are you feeling OK? Because you're startin to remind me of Rouge almost." Sonic commented.

Amy smiled slyly. She then kissed him deeply on the lips then pulled back. "I hope you enjoyed that. I definitely did. Hehe." Sonic still hadn't altered his face in the slightest. He responded, "Actually, I did." Amy got a devious look and whispered to his ear, "Well you know, if this weather gets too cold for you, you're welcome to my place. We could both make the _naughty list_". Sonic simply lifter off of his thighs and onto the bench, then quickly crossed on leg over the other. He realized the opportunity and decided to take it.

"Hey Ames, what are you and Cream doin for Christmas Eve?" Sonic asked.

"Nothing really. Just preparing for the day after like everyone else. Why do you ask?" she said confused.

Sonic smiled. "Well earlier Tails was thinking of a reunion for everyone. It's been a good while and we both miss everyone, including the two of you, as well as Knuckles, Rouge, the Chaotix group, even Shadow. The way I see it you guys can all stay over through the night and hang around on Christmas too. Sound good?"

Amy's heart beat at a speed never before reached prior to this. "_OK Amy_", she thought, "_just calmly tell him that you'd love to come. Here we go. On three. One…two…three._"

"SONIC I'D ABSOLUTELY LOVE TO!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. "_Shit_", she thought to herself.

Sonic didn't even care about the volume of the response. "Really? Awesome! I gotta let Tails know you and Cream are comin. See ya later. Wait! Oh actually never mind. But listen when I see you again tell me what you want for Christmas, k?"

Amy smiled. "Only if you tell me what you want." She kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks for inviting us again. It was really sweet of you." Sonic blushed and got ready to run. "No problem, Ms. Rose. See ya soon!"

On that note, Sonic took off in his typical flashy way towards his house, letting out a few "woohoo"s and "yeah"s. Amy turned and started running towards her own home, grinning from ear to ear.


	5. Rouge and Knuckles' Invitations

(The story just seems a bit weird how it's written, being so close to the top, so slowly go through the next few blank lines slowly, and imagine some elevator music)…..(Oh yeah and send reviews. I'm new to writing and I'm curious.)

There's no feeling quite like stalking a museum roof in the middle of the night. It was comparable to that feeling one would get when they get up at about three in the morning for a day of fishing or hunting. Of course the idea was extremely different, but the feeling was virtually the same. It was also one of the side benefits that Rouge got whenever she snuck in a building for some more gems.

The sly bat flew from the ledge she stood on and landed gracefully on the museum's roof.

"Perfect landing", she said complimenting herself.

She walked over to a large skylight and kneeled by a window. She opened a small pocket in her belt and pulled out a diamond and some tool that looked like one of those air hockey things, but with a grip handle instead of a big bump. She placed the latter against the window and it sucked against it. She proceeded to carve a large circle around it with the diamond, all the while holding on to the handle. When it was done, she lifted the glass circle out of the way and looked down.

She took in the sight with awe. To her, there were few things more incredible than a large display of diamonds and other valuable rocks. Her eyes sparkled as did the scene, and she had a an expression as though she were in love.

"_This must be how Amy feels when she sees Sonic, or how Sonic feels when he sees a huge ass cascade range_. Aaaaaaaah" she sighed in bliss. "Well, better get started."

She stood up and prepared to dive into the building, and jumped straight down, she hadn't even gotten past the hole when she felt something grasp her ankle. Her first thought was the most typical: "Aw shit. I've been caught", she said aloud.

"Relax Rouge, I just wanted to talk before you robbed and left", chimed a youthful voice.

Rouge took a second to recognize the voice. "Tails?" She looked up (behind her). Sure enough there he was hovering above her, smiling, holding on to her ankle with both hands.

"How've you been? Diamond heists going well? Haven't seen ya in a while." He chuckled at her bewildered face.

"Uh…Hi Tails. Um..why'd you grab my foot as I was gonna jump down there?" She said, obviously confused.

Tails smiled further and chuckled. "Sorry about the surprise. But I knew you'd probably ditch as soon as you knew someone else was here. Anyway, what are you doing Christmas Eve?"

Rouge blinked. "Don't get me wrong kid, you're handsome and major sweetie, but aren't you a bit young for me?"

Tails blushed completely and shared a look just like Rouge's. Then he started laughing. He flew over to the side and flipped her into his arms and let her down gently.

"That's not what I meant. Ya see, me and Sonic have kind been missing everybody, and so we thought it might be nice to have a little reunion. We're inviting basically everybody, including you, Shadow, the Chaotix bunch, everyone. Would you be interested?" Tails asked with a pleading smile.

"Aawww." Rouge said, charmed. "Of course I would, hon. Tell your handsome roommate I'd love to attend." She patted his head.

"Will do, Rouge. Oh by the way, what do you want for Christmas? Me and Sonic wanna know."

Rouge smiled at him. "Aw Tails. That's incredibly sweet. You guys don't need to get me anything. I've got more gems than I'll ever actually need. Don't worry about me."

Tails put up his hand. "No can do Rouge. I want to do it, and Sonic has always had a thing for playing Santa at Christmas. And if you won't tell us, we'll have to be creative."

Rouge smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "I guess I can't argue. Well at this point I don't feel the mood for stealing for now. I guess I'll go get some sleep. Thanks for the invitation hon." She started walking towards the ledge then turned with a smile. "See ya around Tails." She winked and flew off.

Tails smiled. "I guess I should Sonic about the new guest list addition. Actually, I could use some sleep too." Tails jumped into the air and twirled his tails. He started his way towards his apartment.

ooo

As the fox and the bat left their location, another meeting would soon take place on the Floating Island. Already there was the island's most significant occupant, the red echidna himself. Knuckles, friend and ally of Sonic, rival of Rouge, protector of the Master Emerald, still kept to his pre destined role. "Rad' red" sat upon the emerald in a meditative position, his eyes shut, arms and legs crossed, his mind in absolute deep concentration, being completely aware of every single detail of his surroundings. A feather could drop and land on a patch of cotton plants, and Knuckles could almost hear it. He had been at it for four whole hours, and was starting to feel bored.

"Hmmmm. I sense no presence, no intruders. I guess I could go get some exercise." He got up on his feet and looked in front of him. The Floating Island was always a beautiful sight, but the holiday season snow that covered it made no difference. It all looked so inviting.

"Guess I'll be like Sonic for the next few minutes." He chuckled to himself at the thought of his former rival, now very good friend. And with that, he jumped down from the shrine and ran through the forest that was his home.

"Yeeeaaaah! All Right! Whooooooooooo!" Knuckles cheered as he ran down a slope that ended like a ramp and glided through the air. He landed on a branch then quickly swung down do another. It cracked and fell from the echidna's weight. He was falling quickly towards a large jagged rock. His face didn't even flinch. Knuckles simply brought his arm back and timed a blow that could crush titanium. Debris from the rock flew from the impact, as the fist-fighter stood where the boulder once did, fist in the ground, on one knee. He stood up straight again and cracked his ..well..knuckles. He flashed a cocky smile and started running straight forward through a narrow path in the trees.

"It's moments like this I wish I wasn't born with a 24 hour job that was settled before my birth." Knuckles didn't have speed like his spiny blue buddy did, but he was fast enough to be thrilled whenever he did something like this. After a few minutes, Knuckles noticed that he could hear two people running instead of one. The sound was coming from his right, behind a large shade of trees, bushes and intertwined branches. He figured it out instantly.

Knuckled called out, "OK, Sonic. I'm game for a race. There's a little oasis up ahead. First one there wins."

The echidna was no psychic, but he definitely called this one right. On cue, Sonic jumped from the other side of the wall of trees and landed right next to Knuckles. "All right then. A race it is. Loser eats a raw fish. Hehehe." Sonic leaned forward and sped up. Knuckles did the same. They both ran at an almost equal speed, but as the oasis came into view, Sonic predictably began to pick up the pace...a lot. He landed on the edge of the lake right before he would've fallen in.

"Whew. That was kinda close," Sonic said with relief. Knuckles finished a bout four seconds later and tripped, tumbling his way towards Sonic. The hedgehog got knocked right into the water.

"Aack! Cough. Water. Hey Knux. Cough. Cough. Help me out!" Sonic flapped his arms about in the water, trying to stay afloat. Knuckles got up and let his hand out to grab Sonic's. He pulled him out and Sonic sat on the ground coughing the water out of him.

"Thanks dude. For that, no fish-eating necessary." Sonic got up and walked over to the echidna. They each grabbed the other's hand and pulled in for a half hug.

Knuckles began the catching-up. "So what brings you the island my friend? I guess there's some trouble with the egg, right?"

Sonic smiled a bigger smile. "Actually Knux, I'm bringin good news with me. I assume you didn't have plans in the long run?"

Knuckles gave him a grin. "My plans are the same as they've been for 18 years. So what brings you here if it's not Eggman."

"Well, me and Tails have been bored lately. We miss ya dude, you and Rouge, Amy, Cream, even Shadow and also Vector, Espio and Charmy. So for Christmas Eve ya wanna come over to our place and hang out through Christmas itself? It'll be fun." Sonic smiled a little wider and his eyes got a mischievious look. "I hope you don't mind if Rouge comes. Hehehe."

Knuckles scowled. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Sonic snickered. "C'mon dude. It's so friggin obvious. Don't act oblivious. Hahaha."

Knuckles blushed. His response was loud, but didn't sound very assuring. "Aw c'mon. I'm not into her like that. She's….I guess she's charming and all, and I can't say she isn't extremely beautiful, but...that's not happenin' dude. That's like….friggin Tails and Cream."

Sonic gagged. "Ewwww. Dude, they're friggin ten and eight. I don't wanna think about that. Eww." Sonic could see that Knuckles had something of a point, but that was still a fairly inappropriate thought.

"Yeah. You're right. Sorry about that. I guess I went overboard tryin to make my point. Oh but back to your question. Tails already called me about that. I'll do my best to make it, but…can u make some space in your and Tails' garage, and do you guys have a tarp?" Knuckles looked a little concerned.

Sonic responded with a look of confusion. "Uh yeah, sure bud. Can I ask why though?"

Knuckles put a hand behind his head. "Well uh…if "bat lady" says yes like I am, I want her to think, that is if she thinks about it all, that the Emerald is on the island, while in fact it'll be concealed in your guys' garage. Is that Ok with you guys?" He smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah that'd be fine. Just bring the emerald and high spirits. We'll hide your big gem." Sonic winked and gave the thumbs up.

Knuckles returned the gesture. "Well then it's settled. I told Tails it'd be a maybe, but now it's a yes."

"All right then. I'll see you earlier then, cuz I'll probably get a hotel, since it's a decent trip from here to your place." Sonic turned to run home but turned around. "Hey, real quickly, how did Tails reach you? Did he fly here, or did he reach you telepathically through your guys' emeralds?"

Knuckled started roaring with laughter. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA."

Sonic looked annoyed. "What's so funny?"

Knuckles held up a cell phone. "Hahahahahaha. Whew. Sonic, he called me on my Motorolla. Jeez. Hahahah."

Sonic fell straight down to the ground. "Ooohf. Ouch." He jumped right back up and gave Knuckles a little goodbye salute. "Well this is 'adios' for now. I gotta get back and finish up the inviting. Later dude." Sonic spun around ran off with a sudden change of speed that created an enormous gust.

"Heh. Follows the wind, and now he's makin it. His recklessness used to bug the crap outta me, but now….I couldn't ask him to be a better friend in any way. 'Drive safely' Sonic."

Knuckles on the other hand was done running, and started heading towards his home on the shrine.

The protectors of incredibly powerful and sacred emeralds needed sleep too, ya know.


End file.
